In many technical fields electrical and electronic devices are more and more common, which require a suitable electrical connection. In the last 20 years, particular in the automotive industry a large range of new safety and comfort features were developed and introduced in passenger cars, many of those requiring a connection to the electronic control arrangements and/or the power supply of the vehicle. The increasing number of electrical and electronic devices to be connected led to the necessity of increasingly large connector arrangements to allow a connection of the resulting large number of signals lines. The increase of the electrical contacts to be mated upon each coupling of such a connector arrangement increases in turn the force necessary to close the connection between two complementary connectors. The large coupling forces necessary to mate the connectors poses a problem in modern assembly lines, in particular in situations, in which the location of the connectors to be coupled is difficult to access manually. However, the problem associated with mating is not only related to large connectors. Also the presence of sealing members or the application of particular materials result in increased mating forces. Still further, in awkward assembly conditions, as for example in a crowded engine compartment of a modern vehicle, the coupling of any kind of connector can pose a problem, even if only relatively small coupling forces have to be overcome. In order to facilitate the coupling of two connectors in the art so-called mate-assist devices were developed, which comprise for example a lever mechanism or a slider mechanism, which facilitate the coupling of two connector housings.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,882 B1 discloses a type of mate-assist device consisting in a U-shaped slider, which is arranged for a translatory movement on a first connector housing. The slider comprises two actuating arms being provided with a number of cam slots which interact with a number of cam pegs provided on the second connector housing. Upon actuating the mate assist device, i.e. upon pushing the U-shaped slider in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction of the two connector housings, the cam slots interact with the cam pegs, such that the second connector housing is pulled into the first connector housing. To prevent an unintentional actuating of the mate-assist device, i.e. the slider, the two arms of the slider are slightly bent towards each other and thus abut a stop member provided in the first connector housing. Upon insertion of the first connector housing into the second connector housing, the second connector is arranged between the arms of the slider and spreads the same apart in such a way, that the front faces of the arms are moved sideways past the stop members, so that the slider can be moved into its final position. This arrangement requires a U-shaped construction with two essentially parallel arms to function reliably. Further, this construction makes high demands with regard to production tolerances, since the whole length of the two parallel arms has to be bent in a very specific way for the slider to function properly. Still further, the actuating arms have to be relatively flexible, so that the second connector can spread them apart easily, which however is often undesirable, since the actuating arms should be as rigid as possible for their real purpose, i.e. the mate-assist function.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the known connector arrangements with mate-assist devices and in particular to provide a new solution for a connector arrangement with mate-assist device which offers a particularly reliable construction. Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide a connector arrangement with mate-assist device, which is sufficiently rigid and at the same time secured against an unintended actuating, when no complementary connector housing is present in the arrangement. It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a connector arrangement with mate-assist device which is more robust than prior art systems. These and other objects, which become apparent upon reading the following description of a connector arrangement according to claim 1.